My Left Arm Poem by Syed Ahmed Shah

My Ram-rod straight Aide De Camp
My left limb used to be a nice little slave
Beautifully servile,
Ready to carry out my commands
Mostly springing from flashes of momentary impulse
Provoked by anger, hate, lust, greed and uncompromising pride
A proverbial Comrade- in-Sin
One of the suicidal fools of the Light Brigade
Charging to their doom in Balaclava...

And some essential tasks of cleaning …

But it was a docile, taciturn, nice, obedient,
Never say no
Gent in waiting...

No questions asked, just follow orders….

Now, after paying servile obeisance for an entire life time
My left arm, would you believe it,
Has finally decided to raise the banner of rebellion
A rebel without a cause...

The old fool!
What does it think it is?
Fidel Castro? Lenin? Mao Zhe Dong? Gandhi?
What a brazen exhibition of senile desperation!
But it has stubbornly stuck to its wayward ways...

No amount of cajoling, coercion, threat or greed can make it work for me again…

Who could have ruined such a flourishing career in slavery?
I think I know,
Even as my friend Dr. Navanil Barua won't accept it in public,
It is that bloody drop of dopamine!
Mine-Regular-Dose-of Dop! !
The supply lines have finally dried off! ! !

Supply lines, as we all know,
Has this strange habit of drying off
When you need them the most....

Now I am on a constant diet of sedative
Perhaps, to forget this act of betrayal
By one so close….

Pssst…..don't ever
Never, never, never
Trust your left Arm…! ! !

© Syed Ahmed Shah, Bokultol, Guwahati.